“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free… Luke 4:18
A new Pope was elected the other day, and I think it is no accident that the newest head of the Catholic Church took the name Leo. He is Robert Francis Prevost, now Leo XIV, and he is the successor, it appears, of Leo XIII. Yes, he is the proximate successor of Pope Francis, but he is hearkening back to the first Pope of the industrial age, Leo XIII. Leo XIII had to grapple with the vast cultural and economic realities that beset the age in the late 19th century. While it was called the “Gilded Age” in America, it was a bleak and volatile time in the changing world economy.
Pope Leo XIII was a Pope who tackled the difficult transition of the world into the industrial age. He spoke of the rights of common people, and how the world must adapt justly to such changes.
At this current time of social and cultural change, the new Pope is asking people to consider how the Church responds to the plight of common people, common workers, in an age of ever increasing social and economic disparity.
Jesus took up the cause of those least able to speak for themselves- those who had no social or economic power. I think that Leo XIV, having spent much of his life and energy among poor people in Peru, will remind the world that the message of Jesus was preached to the poor.
Prayer: Lord, help us to refocus on the message Jesus came to proclaim, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 